Yu-Gi-Oh ! Creator Kazuki Takahashi Found Dead in Japan at 60
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Peter Endig/EPA/Shutterstock
Manga fans around the world are mourning the death of Yu-Gi-Oh! creator Kazuki Takahashi. He was 60.
Authorities found Takahashi's body in the water off the coast of Nago in the Okinawa Prefecture of Japan on Wednesday morning, according to The New York Times and The Japan Times, citing a Coast Guard official. A spokesperson told The New York Times that Takahashi appeared to have been snorkeling before his death.
The manga artist was traveling alone and was found wearing snorkeling equipment, the Coast Guard told NBC News, which also reported that the Coast Guard said there were "damages to his body which looked like they were caused by some sort of marine animal."
"We are investigating the case as both a possible accident or crime," said an official for the city of Nago, reported the BBC.
Takahshi's official Twitter account posted a moving tribute to the manga artist on Thursday.
"Regardless of if you grew up with Yu-Gi-Oh or not, if you only played the card game or only read the manga, if you watched the anime in English or in Japanese, we were all brought together by one man's passion," the post read. "That's the lesson he taught us."
Regardless of if you grew up with Yu-Gi-Oh or not, if you only played the card game or only read the manga, if you watched the anime in English or in Japanese, we were all brought together by one man's passion. He'll always be alive in our hearts. That's the lesson he taught us. pic.twitter.com/mnp0CE1BN7
— Kazuki Takahashi (高橋 和希) Art (@TakahashiArtYGO) July 7, 2022
Takahashi, whose real name was Kazuo, started his career as a manga artist, according to The New York Times. He found success after a story he wrote about a spiky-haired boy named Yugi and his magical gaming powers gained a following.
Yu-Gi-Oh! went on to become a global craze that spawned trading cards, a long-running anime series, books, movies and video games.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Toho/Konami/Kobal/Shutterstock
RELATED: Black Panther Comic Book Signed by Chadwick Boseman and Stan Lee to Go Up for Auction
The latest Yu-Gi-Oh! game, Master Duel, released earlier this year on PC, Switch, Xbox and PlayStation, recently "pulled in over 200,000 concurrent players on Steam," according to Kotaku, a gaming and news website.
RELATED: Neil Patrick Harris Says His 11-Year-Old Twins 'Whoop Me Uniformly' at Video Games
And fans on social media agree. Anime YouTuber Matt Crawford shared his condolences, and added that being a fan of the franchise helped to open his eyes to other parts of the world, too.
Just woke up and the first thing I see is Kazuki Takahashi has passed away at age 60. YUGIOH! was easily my favorite card game growing up and still is to this day. In a strange way it also got me interested in studying Ancient Egyptian culture. Rest In Peace. pic.twitter.com/c9VVGyZI3W
— Matt Crawford (@Tekking101) July 7, 2022
"Just woke up and the first thing I see is Kazuki Takahashi has passed away at age 60," Crawford posted. "YUGIOH! was easily my favorite card game growing up and still is to this day. In a strange way it also got me interested in studying Ancient Egyptian culture. Rest In Peace."
